The threatened Torriano Meeting House provides a venue for poetry and the arts and should not be run as a shop says
Phil Poole

THE Torriano Meeting House provides a modest space for poetry readings, workshops and discussions, art exhibitions, a local history group, other local groups, rehearsals for theatre groups and other similar bodies. It is the home of Hearing Eye press, a small poetry press with a distinguished list.
It was founded in 1982, 23 years ago, and it is not just for poetry – it is a local arts and discussion centre.
Camden Council owns the building. The present lease to Torriano Poets extends to 2007. The rent is presently £9,000 per annum. A yearly grant from Camden Council has hitherto covered this amount. All other running costs: gas, electricity and publicity are paid out of Torriano revenues. It has always been run on a shoestring.
Modestly scaled entry charges, ‘according to pocket’, to the Sunday Meetings enable access for rich and poor alike. Minority ethnic groups and the disabled are well represented.
A ramp is provided for wheelchair access. Accessibility has always been part of its ethos. The clientele is largely locally based, though people find their way here from all over the world. People can communicate despite language and cultural difference. Many have had here their first opportunity to perform, listen and observe, and publish. Some have achieved a degree of celebrity. Others have had their lives quietly enriched.
Poetry is the Cinderella of the arts. Though not loath to show itself in grand houses it is equally happy in humbler dwellings. It requires no grand outlay on tools, materials and facilities. It can be nomadic for a while but likes to settle and have a dedicated venue, a known centre that is always there, such as Torriano.
The low cost levels require and encourage a great deal of voluntary support activities, for example publicity and maintenance from chair mending to envelope stuffing. This is a tribute to the strength of our civil society. Should entry fees be considerably raised – as would be necessary if the present hitherto happy, in effect, ‘rent-free’ arrangement with the council not continue – this pyramid of altruistic support may well collapse. Higher fees would give the impression of profit and substance, which would deter volunteers and lower visitor numbers. Then organisation would be the poorer.
The charges one starts off with generally have to be the ones one carries on with unless one can radically change the public perception of ones business. Torriano has strong core values. This means it can be more active but not more commercial.
Other funding bodies – for example, the Arts Council England and London Arts – provide supernumerary funds for publishing, special events etc but are extremely reluctant to help with running costs. It is not usually with in their criteria for grants.
Their ancillary support would collapse. The present lease, in any case, restricts commercial activities. The place cannot be run as a shop. This is good because such expansion would push the main activity, poetry and voluntary section activities, to the periphery and undermine the raison d’etre.
Generally a quiet activity, poetry cannot exist entirely outside of the economic system but sees itself as having an arms length relationship with it. It is not going to be big time. Short of a fairy godmother with a magic wand, whose otherworldly preconceptions might have undue influence, Torriano needs the continuing support of the council.
The problems of urban alienation and isolation, mutual incomprehension, disputed social and behavioural standards are things in resolution of which we play a role, difficult to evaluate. These problems, if not addressed lead to deterioration and the Authority is no doubt well aware of its responsibilities. In this parenting sense we are working together. We fear losing our place and undergoing a diaspora which would make us less effective in communicating and bring to the fore our rebellious and disgruntled side. Empires have been brought down by whispers. We would not necessarily end with a whimper or a mere curse on the air. If the council seriously considers another fosterer or sponsor they could make serious attempts to find one rather than the casual buck passing such as ‘try the Lottery’. Life is a gamble but lotteries and such offer only the most minimal of chances.
On a personal note poetry is becoming increasingly important to me, as I get older and increasingly less able to engage in more physical activities. For others it may be a smaller part of their lives yet not one they would wish to see disappear.
I am aware of the strains that the present, I hope temporary, uncertainties place on the shoulders of the mainstay of Torriano, John Rety and Susan Johns and it hurts me to see the effects. It is distracting to say the least.
I wish to alleviate these strains and invite the council to work with us. To put it bluntly, please stop messing about and give us the pathetically few quid we need for our quiddities – or lucidities.
• Phil Poole is a writer who organises poetry meetings.